Machine supporting assembly for business machines



1950 w. H. VON HACHT 2,533,155

MACHINE SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR BUSINESS MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 16, 1944 INVENTOR v William um Hue/1t ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1950 W. H.VON HACHT MACHINE SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR BUSINESS MACHINES Filed Nov.16, 1944 3 Sheets-Shget 2 w. H. VON HACHT 2,533,155

MACHINE SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR BUSINESS MACHINES- 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

Filed Nov. 16, 1944 7 INVENTOR 11 9/ William VWZ Had/22.

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 5, 1950 MACHINE SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR BUSINESSMACHINES William H. von Hacht, Bronxville, N. Y., assignor to UnderwoodCorporation, a corporation of Delaware Application November 16, 1944,Serial No. 563,729

8 Claims.

This invention relates to mountings for supporting typewriters, addingmachines, accounting machines and other business machines, while themachines are in operation.-

The primary objects of the present invention are to improve theconstruction and mode of operation bf the mountings for businesssmachines, particularly with a view of increasing the convenience andcomfort of the operator in operating such machines and to produce amountin construction which enables the operator to perform the requiredoperations more easil and efficiently and with less body strain andtiring efiect as compared with prior constructions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedconstruction for supporting business machines in which the machine andthe sheets from which postings are taken may be positioned moreconveniently for the operator respectively to operate and inspect duringposting operations and a readily accessible repository is provided forthe printed sheets.

Another object of the invention is to produce a novel construction forsupporting business machines in which the machine may be adjustedvertically at a plurality of points to locate the same accurately in theproper position for operation.

Still another object of the invention is to produce a mounting forbusiness machines comprising units Or sections in which the units aresecured together so as effectively to prevent undue vibrations frombeing set up by the operation of the machine.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in amounting embodying the novel and improved features, constructions andcombinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed outin the claims, the advantages of which will be readily understood andappreciated by those skilled in the art.

The various features of the invention will be clearly understood fromthe accompanying drawings illustrating a construction embodying theinvention in its preferred form and the following detailed descriptionof the construction therein shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating a mounting structureembodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section of the structure takensubstantially on the lines 22 of Figure 1 and showing the closure |3|raised 1 slightly above its normal closed position and the slide MI in aforward position,

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view illustrating one of the parts ofthe construction shown in Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an underside plan view of the mounting structure illustratedin Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a perspective View illustrating certain of the parts of thestructure shown in Figure 1 with the posting shelf in a difierentposition and a device resting on said shelf for holding ledger or othersheets from which postings are to be taken,

Figure 6 is a detail view in rear elevation illustrating theconstruction for *adjustably suspending the platform for supporting thebusiness machine,

Figure 7 is a detail View in vertical section taken substantially in aplane containing the fore-andaft center line of the platform and alsoillustrating the mechanism for suspending the platform,

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view illustrating the posting shelf andcertain devices for 10- cating and supporting the posting shelf indifferent vertical positions looking from the underside of the shelf,

Figure' 9 is a detail perspective viewillustrating, on an enlargedscale, certain of the devices shown in Figure 8 for locating andsupporting the posting shelf, looking from the underside of the same,

Figure 10 is a detail view in elevation illustrating the devices shownin Figure 9 with certain parts in different relative positions,

Figure 11 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the linellll of Figure 10, and

Figure 12 is a detail view illustrating the upper part of theright handcabinet with a portion of the top wall in open position.

The mounting illustrated in the drawings of this case comprises aright-hand unit indicated at I a left-hand unit indicated at 3 and atable or platform 5 (see Figs. 4, 6 and '7) supported between said unitsfor holding a business machine 1. The unit I consists of a cabinethaving the general form of a rectangular parallelepiped. This unit isformed with fixed side walls 9 and l I, a fixed rear wall l3 (see Fig.4), a fixed bottom wall I5 and a top wall IT, a portion Ila of which isfixed to the left side and rear walls. The unit is also provided withfixed front walls l9 and 2| arranged with relation to each other to forma re-entrant angle. These front walls extend from the topwall part wayto the bottom wall. The above walls of the unit are secured to each.other and arranged to form a hollow boxlike structure having the spacewithin the same arranged for storage of supplies. The unit is providedwith legs 22 upon which it rests.

The mounting unit 3 consists of a cabinet also having the general formof a rectangular parallelepiped and provided with fixed side walls 33and 35, a fixed rear wall 31, a fixed bottom wall 38 and a fixed topwall 39. These walls are all constructed and arranged and securedtogether to form a hollow boxlike structure having the space within thesame adapted for the storage of supplies. This unit is provided withlegs '46 to support the same.

The two units l and 3 are rigidly fastened together in spaced relationto support a business machine between the same. The basesof the unitsare secured together by a relatively long narrow plate or board 4!. Thisboard is rigidly fixed to the unit 3 as by means of a series of bolts:33, Fig. 4., passing through the bottom wall 3-53 of the unit andthrough said board. The right-hand end of the board is rigidly fixed tothe unit i by means of an angle bracket -45, to one arm of which theboard is attached by means of a bolt l-l. The other arm of the bracketis secured to the side wall I l of the unit by means of bolts 49.

The shelf or platform for supporting a business machine, in theillustrated construction, comprises, a body portion 5a, and a forwardportion 517 preferably made of sheet metal and bent in cross sectioninto the form shown in Fig. 7. The rear margin of the forward portion51) is attached to the overlapping forward margin of the body portion Edby bolts 50, the two portions of the platform being spaced by spacingblocks 5d through which the bolts pass. The body portion 5a is cut awayat 5e to provide for the passage of a treadle rod or other elementextending downwardly from the business machine.

The platform 5 is suspended upon the over hanging inner portions of thefixed top walls of the two units orcabinets 'l and 3. The suspendingmeans is arranged so that the four corners of the platform may beadjusted vertically to adjust correspondingly the business machinesupported on the same. In the present construction, the left-handforward corner and the left-hand rear corner of the platform,respectively, are suspended upon bolts 5i passing through the innermarginal portion of the fixed top wall 39 of the unit 3, which overhangsor extends beyond the side wall 33, and through the platform, thesebolts having nuts 53, Fig. 7, threaded "thereon 'to engage the undersideof the platform. The right-hand forward corner and the right-hand rearcorner of the platform 5 are respectively suspended upon bolts 55passing through the inner marginal portion of the fixed section lid ofthe top wall of the unit l, which extends beyond or overhangs the innerside wall H of said unit, and through the platform, the bolts 55 havingnuts 57 threaded thereon to engage the underside of the platform.

The legs 22 of the unit 5 and the legs id of the unit 3 may each beadjusted toward and from the corresponding unit to adjust the heights ofthe respective corners of the units supported by the several legs. Eachof the legs is mounted on a bolt or screw 58 passing through the bottomwall of the unit and secured to said wall by a nut 5d. The lower endportion of the screw is threaded into the leg and is held in adjustedposition thereon by a lock nut 6|, a lock washer 53 being interposedbetween the nut and the leg.

By adjusting the legs with relation to each unit, a four pointadjustment of the unit may be obtained.

The adjustable connections between the legs 22 and the unit 5 andbetween the legs it and the unit 3 enable each corner of each unit to beadjusted vertically. Thus each unit may be adjusted vertically as awhole, and each side and each corner of the unit may be raised andlowered as desired. The platform 5 which supports the machine also maybe correspondingly adjusted. Thus the platform may be adjustedvertically as a whole and the front and rear, the two sides and eachcorner may be raised or lowered. The provisions for adjustment of thelegs of each unit, in connection with the provision for adjustment ofthe corners of the platform, enables a very extensive adjustment of themachine to be obtained, both vertically to suit the operator, andangularly to :locate the machine accurately in a level position. Thelocating of a business machine in a level position is often so importantthat a spirit level is often used in positioning the mounting and themachine. The irregularities and unevenness of the floors of thebuildings in which the machines are placed, in many cases, make this adiiiicult problem. The importance of all these provisions for thevertical adjustment of the mounting and the machine will therefore beappreciated.

The unit I is provided with a posting shelf 65 supported in there-entrant angle between the two front walls l9 and 2|.

The posting shelf 65 preferably is rectangular in outline and extendsfrom the re-ent-rant portion of the unit i diagonally to the leftpartially across the front of the top wall lid of the unit. The postingshelf also extends forwardly some distance beyond the unit i as shown inFigs. 1 4, and 5. V

The posting shelf may be used in the position shown in Fig. -1 but inposting operations the shelf is usually adjusted to a position below thetop wall of the unit 5 as shown in Fig. this position being determinedto suit the comfort and convenience of the operator.

Figure 5 shows a rack NH for supporting ledger sheets or other sheetscontaining material to be posted resting on theposting shelf. This rackcomprises -a base plate I33 andinclinedside plates 19-5 attached attheir lower ends to said base plate. The posting shelf is attached tothe unit so that it may be located in an uppermost position with itsupper surface substantially in the plane of the upper surface of the topwall 11 as shown in Fig. 1 or in any one of a number of differentpositions below this uppermost position to suit the convenience of theoperator and the character of the work being done. Fig. 5 shows theshelf in one of the latter positions. To enable 'the posting shelf to bequickly and easily located and secured to the unit in different verticalpositions, two parallel spaced mounting bars 6'? are attached to thefront wall 25 of the unit 4' in substantially vertical positions andeach bar is formed with a series of vertically spaced holes 69 arrangedto receive pins 1! projecting from "one of the rear edges of the postingshelf. These holes preferably are uniformly spaced vertically and arearranged in the two bars in pairs, the holes of which are at the sameheight or distance from the top wall [1;

substantially a vertical position and is formed with a series ofopenings 15 spaced to correspond A third mounting bar E3. is attached tothe forward wall 119 of the unit in.

with the openings 69 to receive the projection 11, on a holding plate 19attached to the underside of the posting shelf. The projection 11 isformed with a transverse slot 8| thereby producing a relatively narrowneck 83 and an end portion 85 having substantially the same width as thebody of the projection TI, said slot being arranged to receive a portionof mounting bar 13. The openings I5 each comprise a lower portionslightly wider than the projection TI and a relatively narrow recess 81to receive the neck 83 of said projections.

With this construction, in attaching the posting shelf to the unit I,the shelf is first manipulated to engage the pins H in the openings '69of substantially the same height in the mounting bars 61. The shelf isthen further manipulated to engage the projection 51 on the holdingplate 79 in the lower portion of a corresponding opening I5 in mountingbar is. The movement of the shelf in a direction to insert theprojection ii in the opening E5 is limited by the engagement of the stopface 3% on the holding plate '59 with the bar '83. The slot 8! islocated on the projection 17 so that, when the movement of the shelf isthus limited, the slot 3! is placed in registration with the mountingbar l3. With the parts thus positioned, the portion of the shelf, towhich the holding plate 19 is attached, is lifted to engage the neck 83in the recess 81 in the opening as shown in Fig. 11, and to engage theportion to of the mounting bar I3 in the slot M. A locking bolt thenoperates to lock the parts in these relative positions.

This locking bolt is indicated at 9! and consists of a plate-like membermounted to slide on the under side of the plate F9 by means of headedstuds 93 secured in the plate and engaging in slots 95 in the bolt. Thebolt is acted upon by'a coil spring 9? which tends constantly to movethe same to its outer or locking position. The bolt may be withdrawn bymeans of a downturned finger piece or handle 99 formed on the inner endof the bolt. The outer end of the'bolt has substantially the same widthas that of the projection i? so as to fit in the lower portion of theopening l5. When the posting shelf is manipulated to engage theprojection T? in the lower portion oft he opening 15, the locking boltSi is pushed back by its engagement with the bar E3. When the portion ofthe posting shelf, to which the plate '55 it attached, is lifted toengage the neek ii in the recess 81, the bolt 9! snaps outward into theWider portion of the opening 2'5 under the influence of the spring 9'?to lock the shelf in position.

' The re-entrant portion of the unit I extends only part way down fromthe top to the base of the unit. The unit is provided with a horizontalpartition lii'i, extending from the front to the back of the unitbetween the top and bottom wall, and dividing the same into upper andlower compartments, the lowermost position of the posting shelf beingjust above this partition. Access to the upper compartment is providedfor by mounting the portion lie of the top wall to swing upon hingesH39, Fig. 4, to a position above the unit.

The side walls 9 and II of the unit I are provided, below the partitionIil'i, with a series of grooves I l i in which are mounted forwardly andrearwardly movable slides H3 forming shelves to be used for the storageof supplies. The front of the lower compartment is closed by means ofclosure H5 suspended on a forwardly and rearwardly movable slide I I1also mounted in grooves in the side walls of the unit I and locatedbelow the partition. This closure is arranged to engage between the sidewalls 9 and II and above the bottom wall, I5 when th slide II! is movedto its innermost position.

The unit 3 is provided with a partition II9 dividing the same into upperand lower compartments and a forwardly and rearwardly slidable drawerI2I is arranged in the upper compartment. The drawer is divided byacross partition I23 into forward and rear chambers I25 and I21. Theforward chamber I25 is particularly intended to receive bills after theyare printed on the business machine. To enable the bills to be droppedinto the chamber I25 when the drawer is closed, the top wall 39 of theunit is formed with an opening I29. A removable closure I3I is providedfor this opening and, when inserted, rests upon plates E33 attached tothe under side of the top wall 39 and each extending diagonally across acorner of the opening.

The portions of the side walls 33 and 35 of the unit 3 below thepartition H9 are formed with parallel spaced grooves I35 and shelves l3?arranged to slide forwardly and rearwardly in these grooves are provided'to receive supplies. For convenience in the application of supplysheets to the shelves, and the removal of said sheets therefrom, theshelves may be pulled out so that their forward portions occupydifferent forward positions with relation to the unit 3 as shown in Fig.2.

In order to close the forward end of the lower compartment, a closure H9is mounted on and depends from a slide Mil arranged to slide forwardlyand rearwardly in grooves in the side walls 33 and 35 just below thepartition I I9. This closure normally depends from the slide MI in theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and when the slide is movedrearwardly to its innermost position, with the closure in this position,the closure engages between the side walls of the unit and above thebottom wall to close the compartment.

To enable the closure 39 to be swung up out of the way when the forwardend of the lower compartment is to be open, the closure is suspendedfrom the slide I iI on hinges I53 to swing about a horizontal axis. Theclosure thus may be swung up against the underside of the slide as shownin Fig. 2. The closure may be held in this position by any suitablereleasable latch. In the construction shown, the latch consists of aslide bar M5 having its ends down-turned to form handles and slidablymounted on the underside of the mounting or supporting plate I47 fixedto the underside of slide MI.

The parts are constructed so that the forward edge of the mounting plateIdl lies adjacent the rear edge of the closure I39 when the closure isfolded up against the underside of the slide I li. The slide bar I65 ismounted on the forward margin of the plate It! and is normally retractedrearwardly beyond the rear'edge of the closure I39. The slide bar,however, is arranged to be projected laterally beyond the rear edge ofthe closure. The slide bar is provided with inclined slots I49 and isslid-ably mounted on the mounting plate I l? by means of headed studsI5! secured to the mounting plate and engaging in said slots. Thus whenthe slide bar is moved longitudinally on the mounting plate, it isshifted sidewise. When the slide bar is located longitudinally in onelimiting position, its right-hand edge, Fig. 2, will :clear the rearedge portion :of the losure 139. When the closure is folded up, with theslide bar in this position, and the slide bar is then movedlongitudinally to its opposite limiting position, the right-hand edgeportion (Fig. 2) of the bar will be moved across the rear edge portionof the closure to hold the closure in folded position.

The closure N55 .is :mounted on the slide :i ll to swing on hinges (notshown) in substantially the same manner that the closure :5 3 9 ismounted on the .slide it! so that the closure silli maybe swung up outof the way against the slide Hi and the latter closure :is held in thisposition means of a latch bar such as the latch bar 145 shown in Fig. 3or by any other suitablelatch .device.

.It will be noted that the posting shelf 5.5 is mounted the recessbetween the two angularly arranged front walls of the cabinet 1 andextends .from the rear or inner portion of said recess forwardly and tothe left diagonally :toward the operators positionin front of the machine i. In billing from ledger sheets, these sheets may be placed in arack liii resting on the shelf, the shelf being adjusted in :a verticalposition most convenient for the operator. The closure l3l is removedfrom the opening 1.29 so that the bills or other worksheets, after being typed, may be dropped successively through the opening 11.29 intothe compartment 525,. This prevents them from being blown about orotherwise displaced.

The slides or shelves H3 and i3? respectively are removable from thegrooves in the side :walls of the corresponding unit and may be insertedin any set of grooves in the unit. ifhus the spacing of the shelves maybe varied as desired.

It is to be understood that the particular structure shown in thedrawings of this application is merely illustrative of the invention andthat the invention is not limited thereto but that it may be embodied inother forms within. the scope of the claims.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention and havingspecifically described construction embodying the invention in itspreferred form, what is claimed is:

1. In a machine supporting and cabinetassembly for business machinescomprising ;a platform for supporting a business machine, means forsupporting said platform at a distance from the floor upon which theassembly is placed With a space beneath the platform for the receptionof the feet and legs of the operator including .i.

a structure for supporting one side of said platform, a cabinet locatedat the other side of said platform and devices on said cabinet forsupporting the adjacent side of said platform; shelf mounted at thefront of the cabinet and extending rearwardly for a substantial distancebeyond the front of said platform and extending forwardly beyond thecabinet at an oblique angle thereto toward the position of the'operatorand means for rigidly attaching at least two sides of said shelf to theforward portion of said cab-- inet in each of a plurality of verticalpositions.

2. In a machine supporting and cabinet assembly for business machinescomprising a shelf for supporting a business machine, -means forsupporting said shelf at adistance from the floor upon which theassembly is placed with a space beneath the shelf for the reception ofthe feet and legs of the operator including a structure for supportingone side of said shelf, a cabinet located at the other side "of :saidshelf and devices on said cabinet for supporting the latter side of saidshelf; the cabinet having front walls arranged ito form an angularrecesaa second shelf ID'OUIItBdlil-l said recess at the-front of thecabinet and extendin rearwandly for a substantial distancebeyond the.IfIlOIIt of said first shelf and extending forwardly :beyond thecabinet at an oblique angle thereto toward the position of the operatorand means for rigidly attaching said latter shelf to at least two :ofsaid angularly .arranged forward walls of said cabinet in each-ofplurality :of verticalpositio-ns.

3. In a machine supporting and cabinet assembly for business machinescomprising a cabinet, a device for supporting a business machine locatedat one side of said cabinet, means on said cabinet for supporting theadjacent side of said device and a cooperating supporting structure forsupporting the opposite side of said device; a shelf attachable to thefront of said cabinet in a plurality of vertical positions, fasteningmeans on two or more edges on said shelf, means on a -.correspondingnumber of outer walls-of said cabinet and cooperable with said fasteningmeans in each of said plurality of vertical positions for rigidly andreleasably attaching said shelf to said cabinet, a compartment in theupper portion of said cabinet to the rear-of saidshelf and a compartmentin the lower portion of said cabinet below the first compartment andbelow the lowermost position of said shelf.

4. In a machine supporting andcabinetassembly for business machines-comprising a cabinet having a plurality of front walls, a support for abusiness machine, means for attaching one side of said support to oneside of said cabinet, and a supporting structure for the other side ofsaid support, a plurality of sliding horizontal shelves mounted invertically spaced relation in a lower portion of said cabinet, a shelfabove said plurality of shelves, said shelf extending forwardly andobliquely from said cabinet, and cooperating means on a pluralityofsides .oisaid shelf and a corresponding plurality of said front walls of.said cabinet for rigidly attaching said shelf to said cabinet in eachof a plurality of vertical positions of said shelf.

5. In a machine support and cabinet assembly for business machinescomprising a cabinet having a plurality of front walls including areentrant angular section, a platform for supporting a business machine,means supporting one side of said platform from the adjacent side ofsaid cabinet, a supporting structure for supporting the other side ofsaid platform, a shelf extending obliquely from said -re-entrant angularsection of said cabinet, means on a plurality of adjacent sides of saidshelf and on a corresponding plurality of walls of said re-entrant anular section for rigidly and releasably attaching said shelf to saidcabinet in each of a plural of vertically disposed positions and storagecompartment in said :cabinet to the rear of said shelf.

-6. In a combined machine support and cabinet assembly for businessmachines including a cabinet, a device for supporting a business machinesuspended on one side from the adjacent side of said .cabinet and meansfor supporting the other .side of saiddevice, the combination of arecess in the front of said cabinet, a shelf having a portion of thecircumference :thereof shaped to conform :to the shape of said cabinetreces three or more attaching means on the circumference of said shelf,at leastjone of said attaching means being spaced apart from a linedrawn through others of said attaching means and means cooperable withsaid attaching means and at a plurality of vertically spaced positionsonsaid cabinet for rigidly attaching said shelf in said recess atvarious vertical positions.

7. In a combined machine support and cabinet assembly for businessmachines including a cab-,- inet, a device for supportinga businessmachine suspended on one side from, the adjacent side of said cabinetand means for supporting the other side of said .device, the combinationof a shelf, an angular recess in the front of said cabinet, a portion ofsaid shelf so formed as to enter into said recess in said cabinet, theremainder of said shelf extending in front of said cabinet at an obliqueangle to the plane of the front of said cabinet, securing means on -aplurality of sides of said shelf and means on a corresponding pluralityof walls of said cabinet at vertically spaced positions and cooperativewith said securing means for rigidly attaching said shelf to saidcabinet in each of said vertically spaced positions..

8. In a combined machine support and cabinet assembly for businessmachines including a cabinet, a device for supporting a business machinesuspended ,on one side from the adjacent side of said cabinet and meansfor supporting the other side of said device, the combination of ashelf, an angular recess in the front of said cab- 10 inet, a portion ofsaid shelf so formed as to enter into said recess in said cabinet, theremainder of said shelf extending in front of said cabinet at an obliqueangle to the plane of the front of said cabinet, securing means on aplurality of sides of said shelf, a compartment in the upper portion ofsaid cabinet to the rear of said shelf and a second compartment in thelower portion of said cabinet below the first compartment and below thelowermost position of said shelf.

WILLIAM H. VON HACHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

